If either of you are around the SWW, and if you have gotten the details worked out, perhaps you could brief me on the door and window requirements for coach 9 so the Southern Narrow Gauge Door and Window Shop can do some advance fabrication planning.

We have been looking at the windows in detail. (Maybe this should be moved to new coach thread). We believe that the only original window is in the saloon (bathroom). It has details that none of the other windows have. I have measured all the critical parts, and will make a drawing with all the joinery. They are pretty straightforward. Mahogany for the wood, minimal decorative details.

I also have measured the end doors. Still need to pull and measure a clerestory window.

Harold,

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize the coach 3 windows were not original. I also forgot all about the clerestory windows.

Is not having Mahogany a deal killer? I haven't searched for a source of Mahogany.

Bill,When you drop the doors for coach 8, you can stop in the Portland area and get some rough Mahogany. I forget the name of the company, but have heard the commercial on the radio several times. "The wood of the world is available at"...

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MikeMembership Secretary, Life Member, President of ROWMOW 1 Manufacturing, Inc. CMO of off rail equipment

It should be pretty simple to differentiate oak from mahogany. Oak is a ring-porous wood with really large and dramatic rays (which give quarter-sawn oak its character), whereas mahogany is a diffuse-porous wood with very fine rays -- somewhat resembling birch. (In fact, 19th-century furniture makers would sometimes stain birch to make it look like mahogany.) If possible, look for end grain on the inside of a joint where it's not covered by varnish.

Inside trim is all oak. Builder photos from archives confirm it was always oak. The end doors are 100% oak currently, and it is quartersawn with visible rays. I think it is important to stick with quartersawn oak for new doors, to assure stability -- resistance to warping.

Most of the current windows are mahogany, or at least a similar tropical wood. The single original window is also mahogany. This wood is used for stability in a very tough application, not to match the rest of the oak trim. At the time this coach was built, even foundry patterns used mahogany. The window frames are 11/16" thick, not very substantial.

I am sure mahogany or an equivalent is available at most hardwood suppliers. I have seen it in Austin.

I live in a small community with limited shopping sources unless I go to Richmond about 70 miles away. However, I have found both Honduras and African Mahogany in several sizes about 20 miles from here, the 'SNGD&WS'. Do we care which source. The same sizes are not necessarily available in both sources.

Once I have the dimensions of the necessary lumber I will see what I can round up. I have been making doors and coach 8 windows out of red oak. Will that work for the doors on coach 9?

With apologies for being scattered, I will also need to know if there is any special glass in the clerestory window. I have been using either 1/8" or 3/16" clear tempered glass for the windows and doors. I doubt they had tempered glass then, but it may be a good idea to use it now.

I have found both Honduras and African Mahogany...Do we care which source. The same sizes are not necessarily available in both sources.

I imagine the mahogany in coach 3 is West Indian or "Cuban" mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), but that species is now so rare due to historical exploitation that it's unavailable as lumber. Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) would be a good match, even if it's not exactly the same wood. I don't know if African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) was even commercially available in the US in the 1890s, though it was already being exported to Europe by that time, apparently.

The clerestory windows are particularly special- stamped, colored glass. I'm certain that will be a special sub-project to find a supplier or reproduction method.

We'd discussed the possibility of your making windows and doors for coach 9; our initial thought was frames only- though that could still be refined. Maybe the safety glass could make the trip fine, but the clerestory windows have glass added in maine.

The dimensions and joinery details must be very tightly controlled with these. Harold is making drawings which match the originals, but there won't be freedom in developing details like on coach 8.

We look forward to discussing fine details when you get here for SWW. Be sure to seek out Eric (Harold will be here till the Wednesday prior).

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I am aware that the coach 9 windows and doors will have to be historically correct reproductions which is why I want to gather as much information as I can.

The half a dozen coach 8 windows I made a few years ago traveled inside the little car with the glass already mounted. If I use the larger car and start early I can bring the coach 9 windows inside the car over a couple of work weekends and/or my summer trip. The doors may be narrow enough that I can also bring them inside the larger car.

The larger coach 8 doors I will bring on a trailer with the glass unmounted, inside the car.